One of the types of carriers commonly employed to package beverage bottles is the so-called "basket-style" carrier. These carriers typically include a number of partitions for defining separate cells for the bottles and a handle for carrying. They are easily lifted and carried, most have excellent strength, and the cell partitions tend to protect the bottles against contact with one another. If the bottles are not disposable, they can be returned for recycling in the original carrier since the carrier is not destroyed by removal of the bottles.
Among the basket-style carriers, some carriers are provided with an "automatic bottom". These carriers have a bottom, which when the carrier is opened up, automatically folds down and locks into place. An advantage of this style of carrier is the ease with which the carrier can be manufactured and used. Additionally, this style of carrier is extremely economical to manufacture. However, despite these advantages, basket-style carriers having automatic bottoms tend to be weak, particularly in the handle area. It is quite common for the handles to tear or completely come loose from the remainder of the carrier, rendering the carrier unsatisfactory. This problem is especially troublesome if the carrier gets wet. It is known in the art that one can strengthen the carrier handle by increasing the paperboard thickness (caliber). However, this has the disadvantage of driving up the cost of the carrier, inasmuch as one of the predominate costs in making the carrier is the cost of the paperboard itself. Another disadvantage of this style of carrier is that the partitions that define the individual cells in such a carrier tend to be rather small, allowing for an undesirable amount of bottle-to-bottle contact.
Accordingly, it can be see that a need yet remains for a basket-style carrier with an automatic bottom having a handle with increased strength, which lessens bottle-to-bottle contact, and which can be provided economically. It is to the provision of such a carrier that the present invention is primarily directed.